Trombone



A. ADRIAN! Sept. 28, 19 37.

TROMBONE Filed Jan. 15, 1936 INVENTOR 4N70/V/0 ADIP/A/V/ BY Q ATTORNEY Patented 2s, 1 3-1 UNlT-ED: STATES PATENT OFFICE raonmoma Antonio Adriani, New York, N. r. Application January is, 1930, Serial No. 58,850 2 Claims. (01. 84-395) This invention relates to tenor'trombones or wind instruments oi the trumpet variety whose tones are produced by means of a slide mechanism along cylindrical brasstubes.

' The tenor trombones in use today havemany disadvantages; the note Eb cannot be obtained without a separate attachment; the tones are most dimcult to control below the fifth position due to the extension of the slide and the stretched position of the arm. Because of the distance between each position, legatto and staccato attacks are extremely difllcult and tiring to perform. The length of the instrument while being played makes the arrangement of the orchestra an arduous one and also prohibitsthe emission of sounds toward the audience as the slide must be directed toward the floor to save space, this in turn does not permit reading of the score without strain. The continual extended stretching of the arm to the lengths required by the conventional tenor trombone tires the performer, does not permit him to relax, so that he cannot play at his best.

It is an object of this invention to provide a tenor trombone which obviates the aforementioned shortcomings.

It is an object of this invention to provide a short-positioned tenor trombone possessing a complete chromatic scale in the tenor compass and which has in addition thereto a note a semitone lower thanthat d in the conventional tenor trombone, namely, Eb.

It is another object or this invention to provide a tenor trombone whose weight is so evenly distributed that it will be easily balanced, permitting relaxation oi the performer and whose toneandlengthoitubingisthesameasinthe conventional trombone.

It is still another obiect or this lnvention to provide a compact tenor trombone which is so constructed as to allow the periormer easy'control so that he can play any tempo, nuance, tone,

etc., with complete ease and without any strain whatsoever.

These several advantageous objects are attained by the novel design, construction and arrangement or parts, as hereinafter described and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, constituting" a feature of this disclosure, and in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a tenor trombone embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is a view'oi the guide and slide portions of the device shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a view showing the guide and slide portions in a modified form.

In the drawing:

The numeral 5 indicates generally the substantially U-shaped bell portion and the numeral 6 indicates generally the pipe portions. The portion 5 comprises the tubular arms 8 and 9 joined 5 by the elbow or crook l0 and spanned by the cross pieces ll,

' The pipe portion 6 comprises generally the tubular guide portion 12 and the tubular slide portion l3. The guide portion is made up of the parts I4, l5, l6, and H. The outer guide parts l1 and H are joined together by a crossmember id to provide a substantially U-shaped member or element and the inner guide parts l5,

l6 are connected together by the elbow or crook 15 I9, to provide another substantially U-shaped member element but less in width than the form-, er- U-shaped member enabling it to be located between the arms l4, ll of the latter. The inner U-shaped member is connected to the crosspiece is of the outer U-shaped member by the part 20.

The slide portion l3 comprises generally the slide tubes l4, l5, I6, 11, the parts I4 and I5 being integrally connected by the tubular crook or elbow 2| to provide a substantially U- shaped element or member and the slide parts it and I'l are also integrally connected by the tubular elbow or crook 22 providing another substantially U-shaped element or member, thus producing a continuous path through, H I1, It", It, IS, IS, II, It, and through the bell portion 5 comprising the tubes 9, l0, 8, and 1, respectiveiy, to produce the required sound. It is ,to be noted that the slide parts are disposed with respect to each other such that their U ends are adjacent.

The slide parts Il and l5, l5 and I6, of the slide portion 6 are held in respective spaced relation indicated by the'numerals 25, 26, by the 40 spans or cross-members 2| to allow the manipulation of the slide portion to produce the various tones.

A mouthpiece 21 is connected to the free end of the slide part i1.

In Figure 2 the dotted lines indicated as 1", 2 3', 4", 5 6", 7", and 8* represent the various positions of the slide for different tones which positions it is to .be noted are very much shorter than in the conventional tenor trombone. The dotted line indicated by the word Bell shows the fixed position of the bell with respect to the instrument.

In Figure 3 which shows the invention in a modified form, the prime numerals represent parts corresponding to the respective numerals in Figures 1 and 2 and the double prime numerals to that of the numerals shown with the letter a. In this figure the slide parts l4, l5 and l6, H are brought closer together leaving a wider space 25' in the center.

In Figure 1 the guide portion I2 is in the same plane with the slide portion l3. In Figure 3 the crooks 2|, 22' of the slide portions !3 overlap.

It is believed from the above description that those skilled in the art will have no diflic'ulty in understanding the construction, the metht l of use and operation of the device herein disclosed and a detailed discussion thereof is unnecessary.

The invention is of simple and practical construction and is adapted to accomplish among others all of the objects and advantages herein set forth. v

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as .new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:-

1. A short-positioned trombone comprising a substantially U-shaped bell portion, and tubular guide and slide portions, said guide portion comprisingfour tubular spaced-apart arms, the two inner arms of which being connected by a U- shaped tubular element and the two outer arms being connected by a tubular cross-member, the said element being connected to said cross-member to provide a unit, one of the outer arms of said unit being connected to an arm of said bell portion, a mouthpiece connected to the other outer arm of said unit, said slide portion comprising two substantially U-shaped tubular parts, a cross-member joining an arm of each part, the arms of said parts adapted to slidingly receive the respective arms of said guide portion, the combined relation of the portions being such as to provide a complete chromatic scale in the tenor compass and whereby the note Eb' may be obtained.

2. A short-positioned trombone comprising a substantially U-shaped bell member, and intermating tubular guide and slide portions,saidguide portion comprising two connected substantially U-shaped parts, first and second, respectively, the second part being located between the arms of the first part, an arm of the first part being connected to said member, a mouthpiece connected to the other arm of said first part, said slide portion, comprising two substantially U- shaped tubular sections, means joining said sections together with their U ends adjacent, the arms of said slide portion adapted to slidingly receive the respective arms of said guide portion, the combined relation of the portions and member being such as to provide the complete chromatic scale in the tenor compass and whereby the noteEb may be obtained.

ANTONIO ADRIANI. 

